Surrey could phase out ‘traditional schools’ as it grapples with surging enrolment

The Surrey School District is mulling another major change as it grapples with ongoing overcrowding.

Faced with soaring enrollment and not enough class space, the district is considering turning its three public traditional schools into regular elementary schools.

But parents of students in the schools say they’re worried about losing an education resource they love.

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The traditional schools, which have long wait lists, uniform dress codes and smaller class sizes provide what’s described as a “research-based teaching practice.”

Surrey Board of Education vice-chair Gary Tymoschuk said the district is considering the move because it just doesn’t have enough class space for all the district’s students.

Surrey is already B.C.’s most populous school district and is already home to about 360 portables.

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“Over the last number of years, we’ve seen horrendous growth (in) the number of students coming into our district year over year,” Tymoschuk said.

“The last two years it was 2,500 students per year, and this year… 1,500 new students and we’re just not getting the new school built.”

Tymoschuk said given the exploding population, the district may need to turn the traditional schools into regular catchment schools, to provide learning space for students who live in the neighbourhood.

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He said if the district makes the change, current students will be “grandfathered” in and allowed to finish their program.

But the district’s potential move worries parents such as Karly Watts, who has two sons at Cloverdale Traditional School.

She said the schools provide a unique learning environment that she fears could be lost.

“It represents a very specific set of values. We are talking about responsibility, respect, citizenship, and all of those values together create high academic excellence,” she said.

“We adore it, we adore the community. There is such an identity and a culture here. Everybody is so encouraging.”

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Watts said the district is holding a forum in November for parents but has allotted just one hour to hear from 800 families.

She said parents are hoping the district will work with them to maintain their “traditional values” while expanding where needed.

She suggested the district could open up the waitlist to allow more students to come to the school while retaining its culture and education model.

“This process is moving very fast, they aren’t exhibiting care and concern for our families, and we are concerned they are going to move ahead with the plan no matter what we say,” she said.

Tymoschuk said a month-long consultation is underway and that no decisions have been made about the plan so far.